Wearable medication delivery device

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for delivering a medication to a person experiencing an emergency medical event without requiring intervention or action on the part of the person. A device encases a reservoir of medication and a delivery mechanism. Sensors in the housing sense a physical attribute of the person and circuitry monitors information collected by the sensors to determine if the person is experiencing a severe medical condition or event based on the information. An input device on or in the housing, such as a button, may be used or activated by the person if the detected condition or event is a false positive to cancel further action. If the system does not include the button or if the user does not press it in time, the system activates the delivery device and injects the medication into the person.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/519,349, filed on Jul. 23, 2019, which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/358,945, filed on Nov. 22, 2016 (now U.S.Pat. No. 10,413,665), which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/259,706, filed on Nov. 25, 2015, the entire contentsof all applications are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein generally relate to medication delivery and, moreparticularly, to wearable medication delivery devices for providingmedication to a user experiencing a severe medical event.

BACKGROUND

Some medical situations require rapid delivery of a medication to aperson to avoid death or serious injury. For example, if a person isexposed to a chemical warfare agent, such as sarin gas, the person mayrequire the administration of an antidote such as atropine within a veryshort period of time. Similarly, for someone having a bee-sting allergy,epinephrine must be administered soon after a bee sting occurs. Othersuch medical conditions or events that may require urgent attention caninclude episodes caused by food allergies or epileptic attacks. Often,there is not enough time to transport the afflicted person to a carefacility or even to bring a medical professional to the person.

As a result, people required to be in zones in which chemical warfare isa possibility, such as soldiers, and people who are known to havemedical conditions such as allergic reactions to substances or eventssuch as bee stings or foods are encouraged to carry self-injectordevices that permit the quick delivery of a needed medication. Thesedevices are typically about five inches long, cylindrical, and resemblea large pen or magic marker. The user holds one end of the self-injectoron an injection site (e.g., the thigh of a leg) and a predeterminedamount of medication is automatically injected. One such device is soldunder the trade name EPIPEN.

Use of these devices presents a number of drawbacks, however. The useris required to know both how to operate the device and when to operatethe device. Improper operation may result in little or no medicationactually injected and improper timing may result in injection occurringtoo late. Furthermore, the user must be conscious and capable ofperforming the self-injection. Because some chemical agents and allergicreactions cause seizures, the user may be incapable of performing theself-injection due to seizing before the person even realizes that anattack or allergen exposure has occurred. A need therefore exists for asystem and method to deliver antidotes and other medication even if orwhen a user is incapable of doing so.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. In the following description,various embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a first exemplary wearable device for deliveringmedication.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a second exemplary wearable device fordelivering medication.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a third exemplary wearable device fordelivering medication.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate first and second views of a first exemplaryneedle deployment system.

FIGS. 4C and 4D illustrate first and second views of a second exemplaryneedle deployment system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary medication delivery device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a first method for delivering medication.

FIG. 7 illustrates a second method for delivering medication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments described herein include systems and methods fordelivering a medication to a person exposed or subjected to an emergencymedical event without requiring intervention or action on the part ofthe person. The event may be a chemical-weapon attack, bee sting,allergic reaction, epileptic attack, or any other event. In someembodiments, a pod or housing encases a reservoir of medication and adelivery device, such as a hypodermic needle. The housing is held incontact with or in close proximity to a body part of a person, such asthe person's thigh, via an adhesive, strap, pouch, or any similar means.Sensors in the housing, such as motion sensors, accelerometers,biosensors, or any other type of sensor, sense a physical attribute ofthe person, such as the motion and/or biochemistry of the person, and acomputer processor (and associated circuitry) monitor informationcollected by the sensors and determine if the person is experiencing amedical event, such as a seizure or allergic attack, based on theinformation. The housing may further include an output communicationsdevice, such as a loudspeaker, vibration generator, thermal indicator,or electric-shock dispenser, that signals to the person that a seizureor other severe medical condition or events has been detected. An inputdevice on or in the housing, such as a button, may be used or activatedby the person in response to the signal if the detected condition orevent is a false positive to cancel further action. If the system doesnot include the button or if the user does not press it in time, thesystem activates the delivery device and injects the medication into theperson.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wearable device 100 for delivering medication to awearer or user of the wearable device 100. A housing 102 may be used toenclose a hypodermic needle, needle actuator, medication reservoir,motion sensor, medical condition sensor, environmental sensor, computerprocessor, and/or other elements, components, or devices describedherein. The housing 102 may be made of metal, plastic, or any othermaterial or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the housing102 can include a detachable portion 104 that includes one or moreenclosed components, as described in greater detail below. The housing102 may further, in some embodiments, be attached on one side to anadhesive member 106 that facilitates attachment to a person's body. Theadhesive member 106 may be made of one or more flexible materials suchas gauze, fabric, rubber, latex, or any other material, which may bearranged in one or more layers. An adhesive substance may be disposed onone side of the adhesive member 106. A person may, for example, firstremove a non-adhesive layer affixed to the adhesive substance to therebyexpose the adhesive substance and then adhere the adhesive member 106 tohis or her body. In other embodiments, the housing 102 can be held inplace touching or adjacent to a person's body via use of a strap, pouch,or similar means, and the adhesive member 106 may not be present orneeded.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a wearable device 200 configured in twoparts. The wearable device 200 can represent a particular implementationof the wearable device 100 of FIG. 1. The wearable device 200 caninclude a first portion 202 (shown in FIG. 2A) and a second portion 204(shown in FIG. 2B). The first portion 202 can include a number ofcomponents such as, for example, a motion sensor and a computerprocessor. In various embodiments, the first portion 202 can furtherinclude a medical condition sensor and/or an environmental sensor. Thesecond portion 204 can include an adhesive member 206, batteries 208, aneedle unit 210, and a needle 212. The adhesive member 206 can representan implementation of the adhesive member 106 depicted in FIG. 1. In someembodiments, however, the first portion 202 can be a cover to protectthe components disposed in the second portion 204 and does not itselfhouse any components. The components may be apportioned such that oneportion (e.g., the first portion 202) is re-usable, while some or all ofthe perishable components (e.g., the medication and batteries) are inthe second portion 204. The person using the system may therefore needto replace only the second portion 204 upon expiration of the medicationand/or battery.

The first and second portions 202 and 204 may be configured toreleasably attach to each other, as shown in FIG. 2. The first andsecond portions 202 and 204 may be held in place together by friction(e.g., friction fit), by tabs, by screws, or by any other means ofattachment. In some embodiments, the first and second portions 202 and204 are configured to allow any person to separate them. In otherembodiments, the first and second portions 202 and 204 are configured toallow only qualified persons (e.g., medical professionals) to separatethem by using, for example, a locking mechanism, screws or bolts withspecially-shaped heads, or similar means. In some embodiments, the firstand second portions 202 and 204 include a sticker, thread, or similartell-tale that indicates whether the first and second portions 202 and204 have been separated by snapping, breaking, or moving (e.g., one ormore of the first and second portions 202 and 204 may include a tamperevident device or mechanism indicating when the first and secondportions 202 and 204 have been separated). The first and second portions202 and 204 may further include a self-destruct or disabling mechanismthat can be triggered if the first and second portions 202 and 204 areseparated or separated improperly.

The batteries 208 may be used to provide power to the needle unit 210and may be AA or AAA cell batteries, watch batteries, rechargeablebatteries, or any other type or number of batteries (including a singlecell battery). In some embodiments, the batteries 208 also or insteadprovide power to components within the first portion 202. For example,the first portion 202 may have conducting metal elements that mate withcorresponding metal elements in the second portion 204 when the firstand second portions 202 and 204 are attached to each other, therebyenabling power from the batteries 208 to be provided to components inthe first portion 202. The first portion 202 may also or instead haveconducting metal elements that contact the batteries 208 themselves(e.g., directly) to thereby supply power to components therein. In otherembodiments, the first portion 202 includes another power supply (e.g.,one or more additional batteries).

The first and second portions 202 and 204 may similarly have data orsignal connectors that form a data or signal path when the first andsecond portions 202 and 204 are attached together to thereby permit thetransmission of data or signals there between. For example, the firstportion 202 may have a connector with pins that mates with a socket onthe second portion 204 when the first and second portions 202 and 204are attached to each other. This data or signal path may be used to, forexample, communicate between a processor disposed in the first portion202 and the needle unit 210 in the second portion 204.

The needle unit 210 may include a fluid reservoir for storing and/ordispensing a quantity of liquid medication or drug. In some embodiments,the fluid reservoir can be a cylinder or similar shape having across-sectional shape of a circle, oval, rectangle, square, or any othershape. In these embodiments, the needle 212 can be fluidly connected toone end of the cylinder, and a plunger can be disposed at the other endof the cylinder. The medicine or drug may be dispensed through theneedle 212 via mechanical or electro-mechanical means, such as anelectric motor that turns a gear that advances the plunger. The plungermay alternatively be driven by electrochemical means, such as by causingthe creation or expansion of a gas by applying an electric current to asubstance to thereby exert a force on the plunger. In other embodiments,the fluid reservoir can exert a force on the liquid medicine disposedtherein. For example, one or more inner walls of the fluid reservoir mayinclude an elastic member that is stretched such that it exerts a forceon the liquid (e.g., an elastic bladder). A propellant may alternativelybe added to the fluid reservoir to exert force on the liquid. In theseembodiments, instead of or in addition to a plunger, the needle unit 210can include a valve that, once open, permits the liquid under pressureto exit the fluid reservoir and travel through the needle 212.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a wearable device 300. The wearable device300 can represent another embodiment of a medication delivery device ofthe present invention. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, a needle302 can be part of a first portion 304 of the wearable device 300 (asopposed to being part of the second portion 204 as shown in theembodiment of FIG. 2B). A second portion 306 of the wearable device 300can include batteries 308 and an adhesive member 310. The presentinvention is not limited to any particular division of componentsbetween the two portions 302 and 306 as any division or placement of anyconstituent components is within the scope of the wearable devicesdescribed. In addition, other embodiments of the present invention caninclude additional portions (e.g., more than two portions) or fewerportions (e.g., a single portion such that the housing/entire wearabledevice is provided as a single piece).

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate top and side views, respectively, of anexemplary system 400 for deploying a needle disposed within a wearabledevice of the present invention (such as one of the wearable devices100, 200, or 300) into the body of a person for subsequent dispensing ofa medication or drug there through. In this embodiment, a needle driver402 is under load of a spring 404 that is compressed between the needledriver 402 and another surface 406. The surface 406 may be part of ahousing, attached to a housing, or may be any other surface of awearable device as described herein. One or more keys 408 can hold theneedle driver 402 in place and prevent the spring 404 from expanding topropel the needle driver 402 forward. Protrusions 410 in the keys 408can mate with corresponding notches 412 in the needle driver 402. Theneedle driver 402, the spring 404, the surface 406, and the keys 408 maybe constructed using any material, such as metal or plastic. The needledriver 402 may be a medication reservoir or act as a fluid conduitbetween a separate medication reservoir and the needle.

The keys 408 may be moved to thereby release the needle driver 402 andallow the spring 404 to move it, thereby propelling a needle 414attached to the needle driver 402 forward in response to a signal.Additional support members may be included to guide the needle driver402 and/or keys 408 such that they move only in one dimension ordirection (or otherwise restrict the movement of the needle driver 402and/or keys 408). As explained in greater detail below, an actuationsignal may be generated by a processor that, in response to datacollected by a sensor (such as a motion sensor or biosensor), determinesthat the person wearing the device is experiencing a medical event suchas a seizure or allergic attack. In various embodiments, an electricallydeformable material 416, such as shape-memory wire made from, forexample, copper-aluminum-nickel or nickel-titanium alloys, can bedisposed around the needle driver 402 and through holes 418 in the oneor more keys 408. Any other type of electrically deformable material,such as magnetic-shape memory, piezoelectric materials, or shape-memorypolymer, is within the scope of the present invention. When the signalto release the keys 408 is received, an electric current can be providedto run through electrically deformable material 416, thereby causing itto change shape. For example, the diameter of the electricallydeformable material 416 may increase when the current is applied,thereby causing the keys 408 to move away from the needle driver 402such that the protrusions 410 no longer mate with the notches 412. Inother embodiments, the electrically deformable material 416 may beconfigured to decrease in length when current is applied. In theseembodiments, the electrically deformable material 416 can be positionedto pull the keys 408 away from the needle driver 402 to thereby releaseit. Any configuration of electrically deformable material and keys iswithin the scope of the present invention as will be understood by oneof skill in the art. Further, any other system and method ofmechanically actuating a needle to extend into the body of the person inresponse to a received electric or electronic signal is similarly withinthe scope of the present invention.

FIGS. 4C and 4D illustrate top and side views, respectively, of a secondexemplary system 450 for deploying a needle disposed within a wearabledevice of the present invention (such as one of the wearable devices100, 200, or 300) into the body of a person for subsequent dispensing ofa medication or drug there through. In this embodiment, an electricallydeformable material 452 can be connected to keys 454 and can run overpulleys 456. When the electrically deformable material 452 is shortened(e.g., in response to an actuation signal), the electrically deformablematerial 452 can exert a force on each key 454 in a radial outwarddirection with respect to needle driver 458. By doing so, the keys 454can be moved away from the needle driver, thereby no longer restrictingmovement of the needle drive 458. As a result, the needle driver canmove as described above in relation to needle driver 402. As shown inFIG. 4D, a hook 460 may be used to connect the electrically deformablematerial 452 to a power source. The hook 460 may also be used to anchorthe electrically deformable material 452 such that, when power isapplied to the electrically deformable material 452, both of the keys454 separate away from the needle driver 458. If, for example, theelectrically deformable material 452 were unanchored and if one key 454were subject to a greater frictional force with respect to the needledriver 408 than the other key 454, contracting the electricallydeformable material 452 might move only one key 454, and the needledriver 408 might not be free to move. In other embodiments, separate,unconnected electrically deformable materials 452 can be provided foreach key 454. The systems 400 and 450 depicted in relation to FIGS.4A-4D can include any number of keys (e.g., as few as a single key ortwo or more keys).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a medication delivery device 500 inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The medicationdelivery device 500 can represent an implementation of the wearabledevices 100, 200, and 300 described herein. A housing 502 can include aneedle 504 that can be configured to extend into the body of a wearerand dispense medication from a reservoir 506. An adhesive material orsubstance 508 can be attached to one side of the housing 502. Theadhesive 502 may be used to attach the housing 502 to the body of aperson.

A computer processor 510 may execute software instructions stored in amemory 512. The processor 510 may be, for example, a general-purposeprocessor, a digital-signal processor, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or any other type of digital logic. Theprocessor 510 may also or instead include analog or mixed-signalcircuitry that does not require the execution of software instructionsto carry out the methods described herein. The memory 512 may volatileor non-volatile and may be a random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, and/or magneticstorage. The software instructions may include assembly code writtendirectly or compiled from a higher-level language, such as C or JAVA.The computer processor 510 can be considered to be a controller fordirecting operations and functionality of the medication delivery device500 overall and the constituent components thereof.

A movement sensor 514 detects movement of the housing 502 and, byextension, movement of the person to whom the housing 502 is attached.Any type of movement sensor is within the scope of the presentinvention, and the movement sensor 514 may detect position, velocity,acceleration, jerk, orientation, rotation, or any other similar movementtype. In some embodiments, the movement sensor 514 can include threemicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capacitors oriented to captureacceleration information on x, y, and z axes. The movement sensor 514can be in electrical communication with the processor 510 via, forexample, wires or a bus. The processor 510, memory 512, and the movementsensor 514 are depicted as separate components but are not so limited.The present invention is not limited to only this arrangement ofcomponents as two or more of these components may be combined, such asin a system-on-a-chip arrangement.

A power supply 516 supplies power to the processor 510, memory 512,movement sensor 514, and/or any other components in or on the housing502 that require power. As mentioned above, the power supply 516 mayinclude one or more cells or batteries, which may be single-use orrechargeable. The power supply 516 may be configured to supply power tothe system 500 for a certain minimum amount of time, e.g., one day, twodays, or three days. The adhesive 508 may be configured or selected suchthat it loses some or all of its adhesive properties before this minimumpower-supply time, thus prompting the person to replace the system 500with a new one.

As mentioned above, the processor 510 can determine whether the personis having a seizure by monitoring data received from the movement sensor514. Any method of seizure detection is within the scope of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, the processor 510 executes softwareinstructions that calculate the direction, velocity, duration, and/orfrequency of the person's movements and compares these factors againstthresholds. If the factors exceed one or more thresholds, the processor510 determines that the person is having a seizure or experience someother serious medical event and sends a signal to a needle actuator 518to deploy the needle 504 and dispense the medication in the reservoir506. In some embodiments, for example, if the processor 510 detects acertain number of rapid, back-and-forth movements made by the personwithin a certain period of time, the processor can determine that theperson is having a seizure. The processor 510 may further detect if theperson falls to the ground before, during, or after the back-and-forthmovements as further evidence of a seizure.

The housing may further include devices for the input of information,such as a button 520, or the output of information, such asspeaker/vibrator 522. In some embodiments, if the processor 510 detectsa seizure, before signaling the needle actuator 518 to activate, theprocessor can determine to alert the person using the output device 522by sounding an alarm and/or causing vibrations. In other embodiments,the output device 522 delivers heat or an electric shock to the body ofthe person to thereby alert the person. If the person is not having aseizure and presses the button 520 within a certain amount of time(e.g., ten seconds), the processor 510 can cancel deployment of theneedle 504. In such instances, the button 520 can operate as an overrideor false alarm input. In some embodiments, the processor 510 adjusts oneor more thresholds in response to the pressing of the button to therebyreduce or prevent false positives in the future.

The needle actuator 518 may represent the system 400 or 450 describedabove with reference to FIGS. 4A-4D or may be any other system fordeploying the needle 504 and/or dispensing the medication in thereservoir 506. The needle 504, reservoir 506, and needle actuator 518are depicted as separate components in this embodiment, but in otherembodiments two or more of these components may be integrated togetheras the present invention is not limited to any particular arrangement orcombination of components.

Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to only theabove-described components as other components and features are withinits scope. For example, a network interface 524 may be used tocommunicate between the system 500 and other systems, such as remotecomputing devices, servers, or cellular phones. For example, a remotesystem may transmit a message to the device 500 via any wired orwireless networking protocol, such as WI-FI, ETHERNET, BLUETOOTH, NFC,GSM/CDMA or other cellular networks/standards, that is received usingthe network interface 524. The message may cause the processor 510 toautomatically deploy the needle 504 and medication, cause an outputdevice 522 to beep or vibrate, disable the device 500, or perform anyother action.

An environment sensor 526 may be used instead of or in addition to themovement sensor 514. The environment sensor 526 may sample air, water,particles, or other characteristics in a surrounding environment of thedevice 500 for potentially harmful substances, such as sarin gas. If theenvironment sensor 526 detects such a substance, it sends a signal tothe processor 510, which may deploy the needle 504 in response asdescribed above.

The medication delivery device 500 may also include one or more medicalcondition sensors (not shown in FIG. 5). The medical condition sensorscan measure characteristics of the user such as, for example, pulserate, blood pressure, temperature, glucose levels, and oxygen levels.Separately, or in conjunction with movement sensor 514 and/or theenvironmental sensor 526, a medical condition sensor can send a signalto the processor 510, which may deploy the needle 504 in response to asevere medical condition being experienced by the user. In general, themedication delivery device 500 can include any number and any type ofsensors including sensors for collecting information regarding one ormore physical attributes of a user (e.g., motion of a user, etc.), oneor more medical conditions of a user (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure,temperature, etc.), and/or one or more conditions of an environment of auser (e.g., presence of a gas or other toxin, temperature, oxygen level,etc.). Such sensors can be, for example, biosensors (e.g., forcollecting biochemical data), environmental sensors, motions sensors, ora medical condition sensor.

The output device 522 can provide a visual or audible alarm to a user.For example, the output device 522 can include one or more visualdevice—e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)—for indicating an alarm. Undersuch a scenario, the output device 522 can flash one or more LEDs toindicate an alarm and/or can indicate an alarm by a particular colorprovided by one or more LEDs. The output device 522 can also include aspeaker for providing an audible alarm. Further, the output device 522can include a vibrator for vibrator all or a portion of the medicationdelivery device 500. As the medication delivery device 500 is directlyin physical contact with a user, a vibrational alarm can be quicklydetected by the user in a discrete manner. The output device 522 can beor include other components for providing an alarm including, forexample, thermal actuator or electrical stimulator.

The reservoir 506 can contain one or more medications or drugs stored inone or more reservoir chambers such that the medication delivery device500 can respond to one or more different medical events that can beexperienced by a user. In various embodiments, the reservoir 506 canstore is firazyr, icatibant, epinephrine, atropine, biperiden, and/orpralidoxime. In various embodiments, the medication delivery device 500can determine a user is experiencing a severe medical event such asexposure to a chemical warfare weapon (e.g., a gas or other toxin), aseizure, an allergic reaction, and an epileptic attack (with any suchcondition or event caused by exposure to one or more conditions of anenvironment occupied by the user).

In various embodiments, the medication delivery device 500 can use oneor more sensors (e.g., the sensors 514 and/or sensors 526) to sense ordetect a physical attribute of a person (e.g., a motion of a user and/ora medical condition such as heart rate of a user) and/or a condition ofan environment occupied by a user (e.g., a temperature of theenvironment and/or the presence of a chemical warfare weapon or gas orother toxin). A controller of the medication delivery device 500 (e.g.,the processor 510) can use information collected and provided by the oneor more sensors to determine if the user is experiencing a severemedical event. If so, the controller can direct or cause a medication tobe automatically delivered to a user (e.g., by way of the needleactuator 518 in conjunction with the needle 504 and reservoir 506). Thedelivery of the responsive medication is intended to offset the medicalevent being experienced by the user. Further, the medication is providedautomatically such that a user need not actively take steps to ensuredelivery of the medication (e.g., to ensure delivery of the medicationin situations where the user is unable or incapable of physicallymanipulating a medication delivery system).

Once a determination is made by the controller that a user isexperiencing a medical event, the controller can provide an alarm asdiscussed above to the user. Within a predetermined amount of time afterthe determination is made and/or the alarm is provided, the controllercan cause or direct the needle actuator 518 to inject the user. Thepredetermined amount of time (e.g., the wait time or delay time) canvary for different determined medical conditions and/or determinedseverity of any particular medical event. During this delay or waittime, a user can press a button 520 or other input device to cancel orprevent the automatic injection of the user. If no input is received bythe medication delivery device 500 during the delay time, then injectionof the user can occur at the end of the predetermined amount of time.

If a user overrides automatic injection and delivery of the medication(e.g., for a false alarm event), then the controller 510 can adjust oneor more thresholds associated with detection and determination ofmedical events. That is, a relatively higher threshold can be requiredfor medical events in order to trigger the automatic response. Thesehigher thresholds could include more motion, more severe motion, morejerky motion, higher levels of detected toxins, and/or higher medicalcondition readings (e.g., higher heart rates, higher blood pressure)which would need to be met or exceeded before determining any subsequentmedical event after false alarm reporting by the user. In essence,thresholds associated with determining instances of a medical eventbased on information collected by the sensors can be adjusted inresponse to a false reporting by a user (e.g., so as to reduce thelikelihood of a false alarm event in the future). In variousembodiments, any override by the user can itself be overridden based ona signal received remotely over the network interface 524. For example,an accidental cancellation of an automatic injection of the user can beoverridden by remote observation and direction provide through thenetwork interface 524.

Each of the components shown in the medication delivery device 500 canbe physically and/or electrically coupled together. For example, thecontroller 510 can be coupled electrically to the sensors 514 and 526,the network interface 524, the button 520, the output device 522, thememory 512, and the needle actuator 518 to enable communication and/orcontrol information, signals, and instructions to be providedtherebetween. Further, the needle actuator 518 can be physically coupledto the needle 504 and the reservoir 506.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for delivering a medication inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The method 600 canbe implemented by the wearable devices 100, 200, and 300 described aboveor by the medication delivery device 500 described above. In a firststep 602, input from a sensor representing a position, velocity,acceleration, or jerk of the person is received. In a second step 604,it is computationally determined that the patient is experiencing aseizure (or other severe medical event) based on the received input. Inan optional third step 606, the person is prompted to identify a falsepositive prior to triggering mechanical actuation. In a fourth step 608,mechanical actuation of the medication delivery is triggered based onthe determination.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 for delivering a medication inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The method 700 canbe implemented by the wearable devices 100, 200, and 300 described aboveor by the medication delivery device 500 described above. In a firststep 702, input from a sensor representing a physical attribute of theperson is received. In a second step 704, it is computationallydetermined that the patient is experiencing a medical event based on thereceived input. As an example, the received input can include inputsreceived remotely, or inputs from an environment sensor, a movementsensor, and/or a medical condition sensor. In an optional third step706, the person is prompted to identify a false positive prior totriggering mechanical actuation. In a fourth step 708, mechanicalactuation of the medication delivery is triggered based on thedetermination.

Certain embodiments of the present invention were described above. Itis, however, expressly noted that the present invention is not limitedto those embodiments, but rather the intention is that additions andmodifications to what was expressly described herein are also includedwithin the scope of the invention. Moreover, it is to be understood thatthe features of the various embodiments described herein were notmutually exclusive and can exist in various combinations andpermutations, even if such combinations or permutations were not madeexpress herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. In fact, variations, modifications, and other implementationsof what was described herein will occur to those of ordinary skill inthe art without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention. As such, the invention is not to be defined only by thepreceding illustrative description.

What is claimed is:
 1. An on-body drug delivery device, comprising: areusable first portion including a motion sensor and a computerprocessor; and a second portion including a needle, and a fluidreservoir for storing liquid medication, wherein the first portion andthe second portion are releasably attached to one another, the motionsensor is operable to capture acceleration information in threedifferent axes and to be in electrical communication with the computerprocessor via a wired connection.
 2. The drug delivery device of claim1, wherein the second portion further comprises: a power supplyconfigured to supply power for a minimum amount of time, wherein theadhesive member has adhesive properties and the adhesive member isconfigured to lose some of its adhesive properties over the minimumamount of time.
 3. The on-body drug delivery device of claim 2, whereinthe minimum amount of time that the adhesive member loses some of itsadhesive properties is one day
 4. The on-body drug delivery device ofclaim 1, wherein the first portion further comprises: a power supplyconfigured to supply power for a minimum amount of time, wherein theadhesive member has adhesive properties and the adhesive member isconfigured to lose some of its adhesive properties over the minimumamount of time.
 5. The on-body drug delivery device of claim 3, whereinthe minimum amount of time that the adhesive member loses some of itsadhesive properties is at least 2 days.
 6. The on-body drug deliverydevice of claim 1, wherein the second portion is configured to bedisposable and the first portion is operable to be reusable with atleast one new second portion.
 7. The on-body drug delivery device ofclaim 1, wherein the second portion further comprises: batteries andcorresponding metal elements coupled to the batteries, wherein the firstportion includes conducting metal elements that mate with thecorresponding metal elements in the second portion.
 8. The on-body drugdelivery device of claim 1, further comprises: if the first portion andthe second portion are separated, the on-body drug delivery device isconfigured to be inoperable.
 9. The on-body drug delivery device ofclaim 1, wherein the fluid reservoir of the second portion is operableto dispense a quantity of liquid medication through the needle.
 10. Theon-body drug delivery device of claim 1, wherein when the first portionand the second portion are releasably attached to one another, the firstportion and the second portion are held together by a friction fit or bytabs.
 11. The on-body drug delivery device of claim 1, wherein when thefirst portion and the second portion are releasably attached to oneanother, one or both of the first portion.
 12. The on-body drug deliverydevice of claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portioninclude a signal path then enables the computer processor of the firstportion to communicate with the second portion.
 13. The on-body drugdelivery device of claim 1, further comprising: a needle actuatorconfigured to deploy the needle.
 14. The on-body drug delivery device ofclaim 1, further comprising: a plunger disposed in the fluid reservoirat an end of the reservoir opposite the needle and configured to advancewithin the reservoir toward the needle.
 15. The on-body drug deliverydevice of claim 13, further comprising: an electrochemical operable toexert a force on the plunger, wherein the force causes the plunger toadvance toward the needle.
 16. The on-body drug delivery device of claim1, wherein the reservoir further comprises: an elastic member that isconfigured to exert a force on any liquid medication stored in thereservoir.
 17. The on-body drug delivery device of claim 1, wherein thereservoir further comprises: a propellant that is configured to exert aforce on any liquid medication stored in the reservoir.
 18. The on-bodydrug delivery device of claim 1, wherein: the needle is disposed withinthe on-body drug delivery device.
 19. The on-body drug delivery deviceof claim 1, further comprising: a spring positioned proximal to theneedle and configured to force the needle into a body of a person uponactivation.
 20. The on-body drug delivery device of claim 19, whereinthe spring is compressed against a surface within the on-body housing.